Avoyelles schools start Aug. 5, have 8 fewer holidays in 2020-21
Avoyelles Parish public schools will start a day early, end a day late and shave holidays in the middle as a way to recover some lost instructional days in this past school year.
The adjustments to the 2020-21 calendar were approved on a 5-4 vote at the School Board's June 9 meeting. Superintendent Blaine Dauzat said a majority of board members felt it better to spread out the additional days over the full school year rather than start school in July or add a day to the school week for the first two months of the year.
"It came down to a concern over exposure to COVID-19," Dauzat said, adding there is particular concern early in the school year that coronavirus may still be present in the parish.
Dauzat has noted in his weekly updates during the "stay at home" period that he would recommend a five-day school week for August and September and then a return to the four-day week adopted last year and approved for 2020-2021 prior to the COVID-related shutdown of school campuses in March.
Those opposed to the calendar adjustments were board President Robin Moreau, Stanley Celestine Jr., Chris Robinson and Aimee Dupuy. Board members Rickey Adams, Lynn Deloach, Latisha Small, Van Kojis and Chris LaCour supported the changes.
RETAIN 4-DAY WEEK
Under the new calendar, students will still attend school Tuesday through Friday of each school week. The first day for students will be Aug. 5. The Thanksgiving holidays will be cut in half, with students going to school Tuesday and Wednesday of that week, Nov. 24 and 25. Christmas break will be reduced by one day, with students returning to school on Jan. 5. Mardi Gras, Feb. 16, will be a school day. The Easter, or Spring, holiday will also be halved, with students coming to school March 30 and March 31. The last day of school will now be May 20 for students and May 21 for teachers.'
STRONG START' GRANT
In other action, the board was given an update on the $2 million federal "Strong Start" grant for the 2020-21 school year.
Approximately $400,000 will go to the four parochial schools in the parish, Dauzat said. The district will spend about $800,000 to purchase Chromebooks for all APSD students and about $450,000 to install Wi-Fi access points throughout the parish. This will give the district the ability to conduct virtual classrooms if another pandemic forces schools to close.
Dauzat said increased sanitation procedures for buildings and buses will cost about $250,000. Approximately $200,000 of the grant will be used to purchase additional English/Language Arts textbooks so that each student will have a book instead of there being a "class set" that shares textbooks.
Board members also evaluated the superintendent, rating him "effective/proficient" with an average score of 2.8 on a scale of 1-4.